Chuck: "Chuck Versus The Santa Suit"Review

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One of Chuck's most vile villains ever returns, just in time for Christmas.

By Eric Goldman

Note: Full spoilers for the episode follow.

Season 2's Die Hard-inspired "Chuck Versus The Santa Claus" is one of my all-time favorite Chuck episodes, so the show's return to a Christmas setting, in "Chuck Versus The Santa Suit" had a lot to live up to. Ultimately, I didn't feel like this episode was the home run that the earlier Christmas episode offered, but it certainly had some compelling elements.

First and foremost, I was glad to see Daniel Shaw return. Season 3's big villain certainly was a controversial character among Chuck fandom, with some not just hating him as a TV villain, but hating his presence on the show itself. However, I liked watching the CIA-uber agent turn to the dark side and was glad to see Brandon Routh back in the show's final season, as he's an important part of Chuck's history.

That being said, I'm still trying to sort out just what Shaw was involved in and what he wasn't. The Season 4 finale had Decker telling Chuck someone had been pulling his strings since the very beginning – but that can't be Shaw. Shaw wasn't involved in Chuck's life at all until Season 3, and this episode reinforced that he was out for revenge against Chuck and Sarah (and had been using Decker to help him get it), but nothing about him being a mastermind going back to the beginning. And since Shaw's appearance this week seems to be his only one this season, it would be a bit of a letdown if that's what Decker was referring to last year. But if Decker was referring to someone else, then that means he was answering to two different evil villains, which is a bit convoluted.

In general though, this was a fun episode. I was especially amused by the large role Beckman played in it, and how – with Sarah captured – she basically got to play the part Sarah usually plays, accompanying Chuck on a mission, and even kissing him at one point so as not to blow their cover. And the fact that this was one of the rare times Stan Lee cameoed as himself – and turned out to be a CIA agent with a thing for Beckman! – was a very funny, very Chuck touch.

I liked Shaw's elaborate plan to create The Intersect 3.0 and how The Omen was being used to steal much more up to date information from government computers to do so. Shaw already had the upper hand from the start, since he was now the only character on the show with an Intersect, so the threat of him being upgraded even further was a major one. And maybe it was Brandon Routh's presence, but I got a little bit of a Superman II flashback when Shaw's plan turned out to have the opposite effect and take away his Intersect (thanks to Chuck and some research via Jeff and Lester).

It was a bit of a stretch that Chuck held his own against Shaw when both were Intersect-free. We haven't seen evidence that Chuck is anywhere near trained enough on his own to go toe-to-toe with Shaw. But hey, I guess I can go with Chuck being extremely motivated to save Sarah – and hey, ultimately, Chuck was going to lose and it was only Ellie showing up and knocking Shaw out that saved him.

There were a lot of appreciated nods to just how tied in Shaw is to the Chuck saga in this episode. It was good to see both the fact that Sarah killed Shaw's wife and that Shaw killed Steve Bartowski loomed large on everyone's mind, including Ellie's – as well it should. (though I still feel like a proper explanation of how/when Shaw's wife became an actual double agent for The Ring would have been nice, since we never really got it). And it was such a relief to see how the Chuck and Ellie dynamic has finally reached an honest place, as he simply told her what was going on with Shaw's return, rather than keep her in the dark like he did for so many years.

Casey also had some nice moments here, as a bit of a life and death situation seemed to put some Christmas spirit in him – as he first left a sweet "in case I don't make it" message for Alex, and then suggested he give Morgan another chance. Aww, Casey hearts Morgan!

I wonder if this was the show's final Subway shout out or if more are coming this season? I think most fans have accepted the winking, rather purposely blatant product placement through the years, because of the real life connection the sandwich chain had to fans when it came to saving the show back at the end of Season 2. At the same time, there's no denying it pulls you out of a scene to see something as gratuitous as all of those Subway soda cups piled up in the trash can, so I am kind of hoping this was the end. Hey, maybe it was symbolic that is was the last time! The Subway product placement was literally being thrown away after all…

Not sure how to process that cliffhanger reveal with Shaw and Sarah. Clearly, we're being teased with the idea that somewhere out there, Sarah may have a child. I'm very wary of that though, as it feels way too close to the end of the show to introduce such a major element to Sarah's history, that would have to be dealt with in the present (Nikita is doing that story right now actually, but it's early on in the show's life, with plenty of time to weave it into the narrative). So for now, I'm guessing/hoping "the baby" may not be exactly what it sounds like….

Eric Goldman is Executive Editor of IGN TV. You can follow him on Twitter at @EricIGN.